2 women charged with smuggling drugs into Delco prison - on same day

MEDIA COURTHOUSE — Two women have been charged after they took drugs into the county prison in separate incidents on the same day, authorities said.

Colleen Marie Davies, 37, of Newark, Del., and Kimberley Packard, 29, of Brookhaven, were arrested for bringing drugs into the George W. Hill Correctional Facility on Dec. 11, 2018, in two separate, unrelated incidents, according to District Attorney Katayoun Copeland.

Davies, 37, of the unit block of Wenark Drive in Newark, is charged with contraband, a felony of the second degree, and other drug related charges. The investigation was conducted by Detective Brian Alexander of the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office Criminal Investigation Division (CID) and investigators with the George W. Hill Correctional Facility.

Kimberley Packard, 29, of the 1200 block of West Chelton Road in Brookhaven is charged with contraband, a felony of the second degree, possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, an ungraded felony, along with other drug related charges. The investigation conducted by CID Detective Thomas Scarpato and investigators with the George W. Hill Correctional Facility.

“Bringing drugs into a correctional facility is not only a crime but it is extremely dangerous and puts the safety of corrections officers, staff, inmates and members of the community at risk,” said Copeland. “Those who attempt to sneak drugs into prison will be investigated, arrested and prosecuted."

The D.A.'s office gave this account of the incidents:

On Tuesday, Decc. 11, an investigation was launched in reference to a report of contraband in the prison. Sgt. Saleem Jones and Sergeant Richard Lynch were monitoring inmate Andrew Heverin's visit with Colleen Davies. On video, Davies was seen extending her hand balled into a fist across the table and passing an unknown object to inmate Heverin, who took the object and placed it into his mouth. Officers immediately confronted inmate Heverin, who was ordered to remove the object from his mouth. He ignored the orders and ingested the object. The visitor, Colleen Davies, was questioned by authorities, who took a written statement and searched her vehicle. She told them she provided inmate Heverin with suboxone. Inside her vehicle, K9 Officer Jamar Brinson located a bottle containing 70 alprazolam pills, and other pills including amphetamine-dextroamphetamine, methylphenidate (Ritalin) pills, along with drug paraphernalia including unused syringes, and a straw and glass pipe filled with a white powdery substance. All pills were identified with the District Attorney’s CID narcotics detection Progeny ResQ 1064 analyzer.

In a separate, unrelated incident, also on Dec. 11, information was received that visitor Kimberly Packard was going to bring contraband into the George W. Hill Correctional Facility to inmate Michael Santangelo. After her visit the week prior, inmate Santangelo was found to have overdosed on heroin, which he had received from Packard. During her visit to the prison, Packard was fidgeting around in her chair. Inmate Santangelo arrived in the visitation area and after embracing Packard in a hug, Packard and Santangelo were confronted by authorities. Inmate Santangelo and Packard were searched, however, no contraband was found on them. When Packard was advised that a search of her vehicle needed to be conducted, she stated that she had locked her keys in her vehicle.

When prison staff offered to assist her in getting into her locked vehicle, she then provided the wrong color of her car and stated it had been stolen from the parking lot. Through further investigation and video surveillance authorities located her vehicle, which was different from how she described. Prison authorities searched Packard’s car and located 27 used blue wax paper bags each of which contained suspected heroin residue, 30 syringes, four preloaded syringes each containing a clear liquid, one bottle labeled nitroglycerin containing a white powdery substance, 75 clonazepam pills, in addition to other pills including Oxycodone and Alprazolam. The recovered items were given to CID Detective Thomas Scarpato as evidence.

Colleen Davies and Kimberley Packard were arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Diane M. Holefelder who set bail at ten percent of $50,000 and ordered a drug and alcohol evaluation. The defendants were remanded to the George W. Hill Correctional Facility after failing to post bail. Their preliminary hearings are scheduled for Dec. 20.

"I would like to commend the staff and investigators at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility for their continued diligence in investigating contraband and their effort to stop it from entering the prison," Copeland said. "I would also like to commend CID Detectives Brian Alexander and Thomas Scarpato for their investigative efforts that led to these arrests.”